Lined Up Update (2007 Edition)
Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, children of all ages… Your 2007 Off-season guide to Lightning transactions! I’ll attempt to list all on the roster but no one is perfect.
Here’s a breakdown at current of who’s signed and who’s not… Who’s on the roster and who’s been moved:
Last Updated 6-13-2007
(Signed, unsigned (UFA and RFA), left via free agency / via trade, UFA signing, acquired via trade)
CENTERS:
Vincent Lecavalier
Brad Richards
Tim Taylor
Andreas Karlsson
Chris Gratton
Nick Tarnasky
Eric Perrin
Ryan Craig
Blair Jones
WINGS:
Ruslan Fedotenko
Rob DiMaio
Jan Hlavac
Martin St. Louis
Vaclav Prospal
Jason Ward
Kyle Wavnig*
Karl Stewart
André Roy
*Evgeny Artyukhin*
DEFENSE:
Dan Boyle
Filip Kuba
Shane O’Brien
Cory Sarich
Paul Ranger
Nolan Pratt
Luke Richardson
Matt Smaby*
Vladimir Mahlik*
GOALTENDERS:
Marc Denis
Karri Ramo
Johan Holmqvist
NOTE: * = Minor Leaguer / European player or prospect that is property of the team
Follow all the latest team transactions through TSN.ca
May 2nd, 2007 at 3:56 pm
Arrrrrgh! Why oh why did R2 sign with another Russian team? I was ready for our 4th line to ride the Took Train to hits galore, and some goals, too! R2R2, I’ll miss you.
May 3rd, 2007 at 11:00 am
What is the story on Doug Janik? I believe that this kid skated his butt off for the club, turned the puck over fewer times than any other D-man, and did exactly what was asked of him every night he played. It would be a mistake not to resign him. Doug makes perfect since to step into the #4 defenseman spot for Cory Sarich or Nolan Pratt, and he would be a bargain to resign.
Some insider news that I have says that Nolan Pratt will play for next to nothing next year just to remain in Tampa Bay. His love of the area will make him an easy deal unless Jay Feaster just doesn’t want him.
The only position that we have a glut of players in is Defenseman. We have so many rookies and RFAs that it will be hard to blow this one. With all of the defensive studs that we have, wouldn’t it make perfect sense to trade one or two of them to get some 1st and 2nd line scoring help?
Youth is going to have to be the answer so why not trade some of the older guys, this may fetch allot in return. Dan Boyle who is probably the best power-play guy next to Sheldon Souray could probably fetch allot of draft picks as well as a top notch young forward. Boyle, who will be in the last year of his contract, will probably ask somewhere in the vicinity of $5 mil to be resigned. Trading Dan would be a great answer to some of the Bolts’ money problems along with an answer to their forward’s situation.
May 3rd, 2007 at 11:57 am
Tim,
I’m sorry but I have to disagree. Janik played like a rank amateur for most of his minutes. I cringed every time he touched the puck, he DID give it up a lot or failed to make a decent breakout pass. There were brief shades of hope but they faded fast as did his minutes. Placed side by side with a guy like Ranger he looses any luster he has.
I’m gonna beg to differ on your defensive position that we are stud heavy.
???
The D was miserable this year.
I will agree that Boyle could be the cap relief they need in order to keep the big three and it will bring at least two solid players.
John, can you compare the amount of FA’s with last year this time? Seems to be quite a few more this year.
May 4th, 2007 at 2:55 am
I will say this in defense of Doug Janik, the reason our defense sucked so bad this year was not because of the talent we had, but the defensive scheme that failed night after night. Pinching and jumping in front of the forwards with no gap between the defense created a confused and bunched up group of players hauling butt towards the other team’s end with reckless abandon, to only find the puck back at our end on a 3 on none… they score.
There were allot of teams with defensive talent equal to or less than the Bolts that kicked our tails this year because of their defensive style. I’m not advocating a trap…never liked it, never will, but this season Dan Boyle could look like a God one night then a dufus the next. Durring the play-offs he made no difference at all in any of the games. The only defenseman that even looked like he could play was Ranger (I believe he may have had an assist or two and made some terrific passes.) The Bolts pinching moble-puck-carrying defenseman scheme was easily defused by New Jersey’s trap and then they adjusted to the dump ins to compensate for the lack of talent and speed on the 2nd, 3rd and 4th lines.
With the defensemen we have, we can do fine, especially if we add one or two guys who can defend and pass. Shane O’Brien will definitely be a bigger asset if he only takes fewer penalties and stops worrying about jumping into the rush every chance he gets. Craig Ramsey needs to be more involved in what takes place during the course of the game and definitely needs to be held in account for the teams defensive woes. This year it wasn’t just one or two defensemen having problems but the whole team looked confused when it came to clearing pucks from the defensive end. The same goes for the power play…too much confusion.
It would be pleasing to see more offense generated out of our forwards due to their assurance of not having to worry about a defensemen competent enough to clear the defensive zone with the puck.
Answer: 1) Get a new defensive scheme that works. This is two years in a row that we have looked like a bunch of retards on defense. 2) Fire Craig Ramsey and get someone who can get results. 3) Completely retool the defense with players who fit the team’s philosophy.
P.S. Good luck with Ron Campbell’s commitment to next year’s salary cap.
June 13th, 2007 at 8:24 pm
[...] his nickname ) is back in the fold after a 3 year deal was re-signed along with Kyle Wavnig. The Lined Up Update will be amended to reflect all moves the last 72 [...]
June 13th, 2007 at 8:25 pm
Off Topic — I need to turn the Lined Up Update into a page instead of a post because I keep changing it and pushing posts (actual content) down on Boltsmag.
Plus I overwrite previous lined up updates… If I had a page for it I’d probably seperate each year.
July 1st, 2007 at 6:02 pm
Folks, keeping my word here — I’ve started an official Lined Up Update page for the 2007 season for organizating reasons.
Comments will be turned off here now and the page no longer updated.